Everything is energy. Everything is energy connecting everything! A shift in energy in one place shifts energy other places. I lift my energy to the vibration of love and light, to God, to all that is Divine. I am responsible for my energy and I choose to free it by releasing the Divine Love within me.

Sharing

The more I free my energy, the more my energy wants to be free. The more my energy wants to be free, the more I notice when it isn’t. The more I notice when it isn’t the more fascinated I become with how to free it.

I’ve really been noticing on this Journey how things work together. The mind works with emotions and the body; emotions work with the body and mind; the body works with the mind and emotions. A shift in energy in one place shifts energy other places.

When I breathe, exercise, or sit with a fire, those are things my physical body is doing, but those things influence and affect my thoughts and my emotions. When I do a contemplation or prayer or mantra, it is my mind doing something, and it affects and influences my body and my emotions. When I focus on my heart, when I feel deeply, my mind becomes lighter, my body relaxes.

I think what I am describing is one of the sub-sets of the many learnings on this Journey. This Journey is not just about becoming aware of freedom and understanding freedom (mind), but also of becoming aware of how we can affect and influence our own freedom through our bodies, minds, and emotions. This means that we can affect freedom—we can be the cause of our own freedom. “I am responsible for my energy and I choose to free it by releasing Divine Love within me.”

I feel like I am at the entryway to a new exploration. I’ve become aware of influencing my own freedom through the interconnections of my mind, body, and emotions. Now I need to investigate, experiment, and explore! What gets me closer? What works good-better-best? How do I use the mind more effectively to heal the body and the emotions? How do I use the body more effectively to heal the mind and the emotions? How do I use the emotions to heal the mind and body?

But wait…I just caught myself…do I actually doanything? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…

What is “my” role in this?

“I lift my energy to the vibration of love and light, to God, to all that is Divine.”

OK! I can do that (to the degree that I can currently do that!)

It seems “my” role is to act as facilitator, liaison, or coordinator. But this means exploring the things that work toward this, and how they work together.

“I” simply facilitate Divine Love’s expression through me. “I” coordinate my efforts in the best way I can to allow this to happen (mind-body-emotions). The better I can do my job of facilitating and coordinating, the easier it is for Divine Love to do what it does (Be)…which means I must explore the many ways to lift my energy, to shift it into the vibration of love and light.

I freely release patterns, habits, and thoughts that inhibit Freedom. My thoughts and feelings transform through remembrance of Freedom through Love. I was born with everything I need to be free in Love. I allow Love to lead me. I trust Love and surrender to its wisdom.

Sharing

I wrote several days ago about the movement of the ocean and the near-imperceptibility of that movement when immersed in it. That’s how I’m feeling today, yet my perception of the movement is more acute. My perception is faint, but I am feeling movement all around me in the ocean of life. It’s awareness.

Most of the time when I write about awareness, it’s about being aware of things that are obstructions—things that cause those little twitches of frustration, annoyance, or even hostility. Most often, these are patterns, habits, or thoughts I think about; what I need to let go. Today it’s a different type of awareness.

As with most initial awareness, I have only a subtle feeling. It’s not something I have yet brought to understanding, so it remains vague. I can feel pieces of it and see slightly how they are working together. The pieces are both about how these Guiding Thoughts build upon each other, and how activities in my life are working together. More than this, it’s about how the Guiding Thoughts are working with and through the activities in life. So there is movement in the mental arena, in the physical arena, and between the mental and physical.

In the mental arena, I feel continuity between several days of the Guiding Thoughts; I can see how they support and enhance each other, and how that builds up mental mass which has inertia, moving my consciousness.

For example, from two days ago (Day 30) , I feel the momentum of the words, “freedom of Being in Life!” Because I am noticing how I am beginning to understand about being Free in Life. Freedom is not just a concept I wonder about, I am getting it through experience.

I became more aware of that small understanding as I moved through yesterday into today, with “I am now aware of myself as Infinite Love, unbounded and Free” and “I was born with everything I need to be free in Love.” Love is the key to being free in Life. I, as Love, can recognize my freedom in life. Being Love and my being in life are not different…when I get this, I am free in life. Myself, connected to Love, connects me to freedom in life. I know this is getting a bit repetitive, but it’s how my mind is getting it—with repetition, with understanding, with different sequences and inflections. The subtleties of words are playing on my consciousness, evoking subtleties of understanding.

This has all connected over the days, in my consciousness. And I can feel it. I can feel that my consciousness is responding to the consistency. This then has led to a projection into tomorrow! Tomorrow’s Guiding Thought is about the energy shifting. In seeing the connections between the Guiding Thoughts over the past few days, I can now also see how the energy shifts in one place, shifting energy in another place.

I began looking at my life activities. I have been working on several projects for over a year now, with much the same approach as I take these Journeys: small steps, everything matters, just take the steps. And I started feeling how the mental energy was influencing, shifting, the energy of those projects. Some things are growing, others are fading, some work is set before me in a new way that will be a next bigger step. It’s all interconnected—everything…the mental, the physical…everything. I am seeing how little we can understand, how little we can know.

That makes it essential to be in love as much as possible. The more steadfast I can be in love, the more I can trust the outcome, the more I can let go. If I don’t trust life, it’s because I haven’t acted or thought with love. Love can always be trusted, and we must trust it, because life is so much bigger than we are; getting to a point of trusting life means getting to a point of living in love, giving love, being love. When we work with love, trust and peace follow as the freedom of being in life.

Ok, let me be clear: my “seeing this” is very small. Like I said, this is an initial awareness, and I do not have it. But it’s cool that I am seeing something!

We return now to “I” as the subject of the Guiding Thought. Hopefully after going through the rounds of “you” and “we”, you will have a different understanding of “I” that takes into account what you have learned through “you” and “we”.

Copyright Tam Black 2015Designed for susanwithpearls.com

Guiding Thought

Love is my natural state; In Love I remember who I truly am; I remember my holiness, my innocence, and my infinity. Love enlightens my mind and lifts my heart. I feel buoyant and expansive! I am now aware of my Self as Infinite Love, unbounded and free.

Sharing

So much of inner work is simply remembering what you already know. Remembering and remembering and remembering until the Knowing is so solid that you never forget again. Sometimes, when a lesson is repeated, it becomes easy. As you practice patience, you find more patience…but then…life puts you in a situation that challenges the patience you have already learned. That’s getting you to a deeper level of remembering. All of life is like that—it’s designed to take us deeper into our remembering one little experience at a time. The more we master, the more we get; it begins small. When we embrace those small challenges, we prove we are committed and willing to move through to more.

Protect your Love. Strive against smallness. You are not mediocre, but mediocrity will challenge you— it will call to you in your weariness, in your impatience, in your doubts.

Be vigilant!

When you are tired, breathe deeply, remember yourself, and continue. When you are impatient, close your eyes, see your perfection, and speak.

When you doubt, investigate options, find solutions you can be confident in and move forward. This responsibility you owe to yourself. Every moment reflects who and what you think you are: are you great? Or are you small?

Decide.

Live each moment in your greatness.

Choose smallness and dissatisfaction will haunt you.

Strive for greatness—be diligent, especially in those moments when the pettiness of the world holds its hand out to you, pleading with you to join it.

Turn your back. Deny pettiness satisfaction and you will be satisfied.

Do not sacrifice your greatness for the smallness in others—what worth is there in it?

Instead, offer up your smallness by overcoming it. Demonstrate to others the true worth of their greatness through your own. Your own greatness will, in turn, reward you with peace, dignity, joy, integrity, restful sleep, and a fulfilled life.

We focus our mind and thoughts on our Inner Divine Self, our Self of Peace, our Self of Joy, our Self of Infinite Being and Intelligence. When we are aware of our Inner Divine Self, we radiate these qualities, expressing the freedom of Being in Life!

Sharing

We can feel free in Life. We canexperience the freedom of being in life.

What does freedom feel like? It’s a lightness that transcends “earthly cares”…it’s weightlessness; it’s confidence that nothing can touch or hinder the inner solidity of that lightness or weightlessness. It’s thinking about the future and dismissing worries because they have no foothold. It’s being at peace with whatever comes. It’s feeling happy for no reason. It’s assurance that whatever comes is fine! It’s an inner knowing that truly, all is as it should be.

It’s more than words. There are enumerable ways we’re told: “Don’t worry, be happy.” People make a lot of money using encouraging, positive words—in songs, in affirmations, in self-help books. These things are incredibly important on one level. People today experience so much malaise, ennui, despair, or helplessness that they need to know it can be different; they need to hear that and be encouraged; but more than this, they need to feel and experience the truth of all those positive messages.

But too often, those positive messages don’t take hold; people don’t know how to be happy, to be free. They don’t know what to do. Something is out of tune between what they are hearing and what they are experiencing. They know happiness is out there, right? Someone is happy…the people who write those songs…people with a lot of money…people who smile all the time. “What do they know that I don’t know? What do they have that I don’t have? I need to get me some of that.” But people don’t know how.

It’s more than just being told “It can be different.” Too often, people hear the words, perk up, and think, “Yeah…I can be happy,” but then happiness is fleeting and often dependent upon what they are experiencing. When life is good, low stress, no arguments with family or friends, people are “happy.” When they are at a party, having dinner with friends, or just listening to a happy song, people can be “happy”. Who wakes up happy for no reason these days? I mean happy as in carefree, unburdened, and with joy that effervesces out of every pore? How often do you wake up this way?

Sometimes I wake up this way. When I was younger, I used to wake up this way more often. I’ve been experimenting with what to do to get this feeling for a long time. I’ve figured out there are things I can do that get me closer to this, and things that get me further from it. For example, taking a bath before going to bed gets me closer; too much sugar before bed gets me further. Do I always take a bath now before bed, since I know it gets me closer? No. Do I avoid sugar before bed because I know it gets me further? Not always…but the point is, I make choices, with a certain understanding of the effect they will have and I keep experimenting. I know breathing and meditating get me closer. I know doing these contemplations gets me closer. I know that more exercise would get me closer, but I don’t do that as much as I would like.

These contemplations not only get me closer to experiencing happiness and freedom, they expand what I expect. That means my tolerance for what is not happiness or freedom goes down. It’s more acute when I can feel myself getting further away from it. If I can feel it sooner, that drifting away, I can make a choice that will move me closer again.

It’s kind of a two steps forward, one step back approach…and I am ok with that. With the two steps forward, I am growing and learning; with one step back I am adjusting to a “new normal”. The new normal keeps growing, because the forward steps are always happening. The one step back keeps me sane.

Trusting life allows the flow of Divine energy to come in and through us to bless All. We step gracefully into expansive, unlimited, harmonious, Divine being. We praise and thank Life for supporting us, and we relax in its process.

Sharing

Trusting life…when I think about Life, I try to think about the whole of it. I look at trees and birds, movement and stillness, buildings and technology, people, animals; I think of as much as I can, and I think, “This is life”. I think back to the beginning of time and imagine all of the life from that point forward; I think about before the beginning of time and try to imagine life before time. I think about the universe, the stars, the ether, the vacuum, my cells, my DNA, my molecules, and atoms; all of this is Life.

On this grand scale, trusting Life feels both easy and very difficult. On the one hand, it’s easy, because Life just lives. It goes on, and has gone on longer and further than I can imagine. On the other hand, it’s difficult because, well, where do I fit in? I am so small in comparison. How can I trust things I don’t know and processes I don’t understand to take care of me? (There it is again…that “I” – “me” thing. Who am “I”? What is this “me”?)

Yet that is exactly what this Guiding Thought is prodding us to do: Trust Life, trust the unknown and unknowable, trust the process.

This requires expanding what we think life is. And it requires expanding what we think the “I” or the “me” is, as well.

Life is not just this body, these activities, these thoughts; those are just how we experience life. Life is something else. But because we experience life through the beats of our hearts, the eating of food, snuggling with a loved one, it’s easy to limit Life to those things—the actions of our bodies.

This is also why it’s hard to grasp the concept of Life. In order to do so, we must see our smallness, see our bodies’ insignificance and feel something more than just our immediate experiences.

Which raises the question again: Who am “I”…without this body? What is this “me”…beyond these thoughts?

It’s kind of an identity crisis. We must swap out one idea of our “self” for another, to let go of one identity and accept a new one, to become more than we imagine our “self” being.

I think about people who have been in accidents or gotten sick and lost a part of their body, or lost the use of limbs or minds. An athlete or soldier who loses their legs and must use a wheelchair must come to terms with who they are now. A brilliant musician who becomes disabled and can no longer play…what does that person do when that one big part of who they are is taken away? There is a movie about Alzheimer’s called “Still Alice” which tells the story of a brilliant professor who loses the mind she gave her life to. These people haven’t stopped living, but they are no longer who they were in the same way. What do people do when what they have identified with is ripped away?

In these types of situations, people who experience this may let go of an old identity, what made them “who they are”. There can be a lot of depression around this, fear of loss, fear of not being enough…until they figure out a new identity, a new way of being. But it’s a process of becoming—of letting go and attaining.

If I think about understanding a new concept of Life, I can see it being a bit like this. If I identify with this body and mind, as a “me” who inhabits it, and that’s all I know, my whole identity, then it could be devastating to let that go. It feels like death. Even if what I am working toward is bigger than I am, even if it’s more all-encompassing, it still feels like part of me is dying. If I have a choice (that is, if I don’t lose limbs or get sick or get into a situation where finding a new identity is thrust upon me), why would I choose something that feels like death?

There’s a great line from Jesus Christ Superstar that Jesus says just before Judas Iscariot leaves to betray him, “To conquer death you only have to die.”

What if “death” refers to letting go of this identity of “me” in this body? And conquering death means transforming to a new idea about Life? Jesus said he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Do you think he meant the life of this little body…I don’t think so; he meant something different. He knew something we don’t know.

DJ’s Mindub and Spun Counterguy have dug through many of funky containers to find these particular discarded joints from the Reagan era and they’ve come to share them with us on this latest podcast. This time around they bring the jams that touch on electro, teenager R&B, gospel pop queens, those Daft Punks, power chord pop and also a tribute to a new band carrying the 80’s torch.

More attempts at the Socratic method, this time around sifting through wisdom from the Middle East, lost scrolls and a Chinese prison, covering such subjects as embracing being offended, standing next to stupid people and heat seeking charity.

Sanshiro Hanafusa shares with us his experience of being part Japanese/part American Southerner, sheds light on the difference of the Okinawan people from the rest of Japan and tells some epic legends, including that of Namazu the catfish, sisters Tsuru and Kame and talking dust thingys called makkuro.

Everybody knows the classic 80’s hits we danced, rolled and cruised to. But with every single there were about 50 other tracks you never heard…until now. DJs Mindub and Spun Counterguy share and discuss their favorite of the lesser known gems found deeper into the albums, b-sides and some just outright ignored artists.

Our connection with the Infinite Source of Love is and always has been enough. Love loves us always, everywhere. Assured in love, we are perfectly lovable and perfectly loving with all people in all situations.

Sharing

One purpose of this practice is to get to at least a momentary acknowledgement and acceptance of the Truth within the Guiding Thoughts.

Each one holds a seed we are planting in our consciousness. The practice (the commitment, the focus, the dedication) acts as fertilizer to nurture the seed and help it grow so we can watch the Truth take root and begin to affect us through our bodies and actions.

Action follows thought. Right action follows from right thought.

Sometimes (like today), I can accept the Truth of some of the Guiding Thought, but not all of it. When that happens I push myself, because I know there is an obstruction, some belief or thought that is getting in the way of accepting the whole thing.

When I started, the first two sentences were easy; they felt good. Isn’t it nice to be assured that Love is all there is, and that we are loved infinitely, beyond all our imaginings?

But then…

“Wait, you mean, I have to be loving and lovable with all people in all situations???” My brain came to a screeching halt with, “Huh? What??”

In that moment I thought about a person/situation where it is very difficult right now for me to want or be willing to give love. In fact, I feel like I want to withhold it.

The Truth is Love. It cannot withhold itself.

Therein lies a clue. Like yesterday, I made it about “me”—about “I”. If I think about me doing the loving, it is difficult in some situations. I know I need to set “myself” aside.

There is another element to this for me today…Courage. I’ve been thinking a lot about courage lately. What is it, and what does it mean to have it?

In this case, maybe it’s as simple as stepping aside, allowing Love to be…and letting it do the loving for me.

“Do the thing and you shall have the power” was the admonition of Emerson, to this day our greatest philosopher.

That is literally true! Practice makes perfect. The better you do your work, the more adept you become at doing it, and this, in time, will lead to such perfection that you will have but few, if any, equals in your field of endeavor.

We allow our physical body to experience itself fully as Light and Love. Our physical bodies embody Light; we are an expanded body of Light and Sound. We move as Light, perceive as Light, behave as Light. We are everywhere—permeating, expanding, unifying, and healing. All things are possible.

Sharing

A couple of days ago I was struggling with the concept of “All is as it should be.” Today, I am accepting “All things are possible,” and feeling that really “All is as it should be”. I feel calm, at peace, confident, and assured.

But it’s funny how the mind works.

Shortly after I began accepting both of those statements on a deeper level while reading the Guiding Thought, recognizing I was calm, I thought, but what if it’s not? What if it’s not as it should be? What if what I want to be possible isn’t? And I felt panic rise; it was just a small twitch, but it was an immediate response to that doubt.

I realized I had projected that doubt into the future and had begun thinking about what I want. And as soon as I did, I began thinking about what I don’t want.

I have to remember that “All is as it should be” and “All things are possible” are so much bigger than me. As soon as I made it about me, the peace and calm gave way to panic and dissolved the assurance of now.

I can still feel it, still feel the smallness of wanting to make it about me.

This is a really good realization on this Consciousness Journey. How do I hold myself back? How do I limit myself? How I sabotage the progress? I go through struggles, fumbles, days of intense self-examination, and I get to (finally!) a place of peace and acceptance…and what do I do? I throw a wrench in the gears.

The wrench came from a different place than my struggles, though. When I am struggling, by golly, I know it. And when I know it, I take it head-on. “Bring it! Let me work this out. Let me get through this. Let me transform this.” And I work on it until it’s passed.

Then here I am; passed it, I am feeling good…and then something I wasn’t seeing comes up to get in my way.

At least I noticed. It was like a small crack that begins as you’re walking over an icy pond. You hear it first and just stop. “Is that what I thought it was?” You look down and see the tendrils of a crack. “Yup. I better not take that step.” But even backing up or retracing steps becomes precarious…present danger averted, but now you need to get back to where you know you’re safe; who knows how that small crack compromised the structure of the ice?

Maybe I misspoke (mistyped?) when I called this self-sabotage or holding myself back. Maybe this is really keeping me safe. Maybe the panic is a small, clear warning sign. I alerted myself to the danger of going down the path of doubt and making “it” about me.

Returning to a place of peace and assurance simply means removing the cause of the interruption, thoughts about me and I.

We. Us. Ours. Together. All. IS. Yes.

Thanks for keeping me safe.

]]>https://positivecookieattitudes.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/todays-positive-thought-980/
Sun, 26 Jul 2015 01:00:43 +0000Jay The Bakerhttps://positivecookieattitudes.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/todays-positive-thought-980/You are as the bud of a flower awaiting your time to bloom. Bask in theLightand bloom into the vibrant, colorful and beautiful expression of life that you are.Your time is here and it is now.

Through our physical body, we bring Divine Light and Love to the physical universe. We heal unresolved issues through loving thoughts, words, and emotions, and become lighter and brighter. We bring light to all we have denied and we heal our past-present-future NOW. Every day we are lighter and lighter!

Sharing

Be thoughtful. Be kind. Help others. Do good.

Do whatever is before you with Love.

Find God in your heart. Share.

Be bold. Be courageous. Remain in your Infinite Self in the face of another’s smallness.

Surpass your expectations. Keep going; go as far as you can, then go even further.

Remember who you are, who you were born to be. You have a purpose. Find it. Cherish it. Be it!

Today is a day for praise and gratitude; open to the Love that is everywhere!

Behind your doubt there is reassurance; God is with you always. There is no need for doubt!

Unite with Love. That is Truth. Love is all that matters, every moment, every breath, every thought, and every interaction…Love.

Only Truth is True, nothing else is True. Live in Truth, let everything else pass away.

Life in this world is a thing of beauty and glory. You have a beautiful existence, not everyone is as lucky as you, use this life well; don’t grow complacent, don’t grow lazy; there is much work to do!

The world is here for your benefit. You are here to experience your highest possibility, choose it; choose it again and again!

Choosing your highest possibility means choosing Love, for that is all you are. Anything else is a denial of your Self and your Divine potential. Why deny yourself?

Every moment that you choose Love you have dissolved a thread that connects you to a future frustration. Your frustrations now are threads from your past. Love cuts the thread from the past and eliminates it from the future.

[July 25, 2015, in commemoration of Maha Avatar Babaji, who on this day appeared to Paramahansa Yogananda at his Garpar Road home in Kolkata, responding to his prayer for blessing and assurance for his mission in the West.

Babaji told Yogananda: “You are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the West. Long ago I met your guru Shri Yukteswar at a Kumbha Mela; I told him then I would send you to him for training.”]

How can we live apart from God? God is indivisible. God is our Source and the Life within us. Our Oneness with All through God was established at our births, at the creation of our being. The realization of this Truth is the foundation of our freedom.

Sharing

I feel really distracted today.

“All is as it should be.”

I just want to sit in the stillness, but activity (mental and physical) presses in upon me.

“All is as it should be.”

How can I be in God, when I can’t be in the stillness? Don’t tell me “All is as it should be,” either. I don’t want to hear that. Give me a real answer.

>silence<

You see this is the problem. I try to get answers, try to talk to you, and you don’t respond.

“All is as it should be.”

That doesn’t answer my question. What do I do when I am distracted and can’t be in the stillness? How is that being in God? Isn’t that being in distraction?

“All is as it should be.”

But it doesn’t feel like it should be this.

“It doesn’t feel.”

It doesn’t feel?

“It doesn’t feel.”

It doesn’t feel? It…is?

“It is.”

“…As it should be.”

I sort of feel like, I’m in a cartoon or a comic strip. There is something really funny here, but because I am a character, I can’t see it. In fact, I think I am playing the character that people are laughing at (or because of). It’s like everyone else can see the answer except me.

>silence<

Ok, so because I feelsomething, that feeling is distracting me from what is?

>silence<

What is?

“Yes.”

Yes? Yes what? What is the sound of one hand clapping? If one photon is projected toward two openings, which one does it go through? Good grief, no wonder people think this stuff is just riddles to confuse and confound. I can feel you laughing at me. Why don’t you stop laughing and give me a real answer?

Life is too short to be stuck in limited thinking and believing. Why not let your imagination run wild and deliever to you new and vital ideas to pursue. Can’t hurt and you’ll never say to yourself, “If only…”

Dare To Imagine, Dare To Dream, Dare To Set New Goals and Venture into new ways of being and living a more interesting and successful life. What the heck? It is worth your trying.

Divine energy nourishes us, heals us, and brings God into our minds and bodies. Enlightenment moves us, awakens our Soul, and firmly grounds us in all we do. Our energy creates our life experiences; our being is only Love and Light.

Sharing

Remember that Divine Energy is everywhere. We are in it, always. This is it. We are always in its flow, always surrounded by it; it is always flowing through us, as us.

What are these experiences but shadows of the past, created by thoughts of being separate from it?

Surrounded by these shadows of what we call “life”, we can become mired in a mistaken identity, borne of previous thoughts, previous mistakes, previous ignorance of Divine Presence.

Today let us forget our past, forget who we ever thought we were, forget the mistakes we’ve made; let us remember we move in and with Divine Love. From the beginning there has been only Divine Love.

“Our energy creates our life experiences.” Which energy will you choose today, this moment?

This is a Journey of Freedom, not a Journey to Freedom. Freedom is now. Freedom is here. We are in it, experiencing the Freedom, on the Journey.

All that we are, Divine Love, is our Freedom. It is who we ever have been and who we ever will be; it is who we are…even when we forget.

God is already in our minds and bodies. God is our mind and our body; God is All. To “bring God into our minds and bodies” means to remember Him, remember His Presence, remember His Will.

Remembering is restoring what has always been; forgetting is to think it is otherwise.

Remembering and forgetting are part of the Journey, until we all remember, always. That’s why it’s important to be aware, to consciously move forward, not only for yourself but for others as well. Even when you remember, someone else has forgotten. Your remembrance is also for them.

Everything is energy. Everything is energy connecting everything! A shift in energy in one place shifts energy other places. We lift our energy to the vibration of Love and Light, to God, to all that is Divine. We are responsible for our energy; we choose to free it by releasing the Divine Love within us.

Sharing

With these Journeys, every day we shift energy toward Love, toward God, toward the Divine. These small daily shifts have a cumulative effect. Our thoughts are directing the energy toward where we want it, toward where we want to experience it. The energy moves us as we move the energy, a constant interplay of inner energy with outer energy (experience).

The mind is the doorway, the gateway, the floodgate. The mind can close the door, open it slowly, leave it cracked…or it can open wide to possibility. My mind seems to do all of these things at various times.

Divine Love is huge. Sometimes it’s too much for my little mind. Sometimes it is so overwhelming that I want to slam the door closed and stay in the comfort of my limitations. Sometimes I open it just a little, peek through, look around, slowly back up and leave the door cracked. That’s all; that’s enough. I just wanted to see what I was getting myself into. Sometimes, usually over a period of time through the daily practices, I stand at the door opening it slowly…slowly…slowly…I can handle this. There are some days the door is flung open wide and I see. Most often when that happens, the door closes again to some degree but always remains open further than it was previously.

Much of the time, these Journeys are combinations of all of these, just a continuous slow opening, even if that means a partial closing from time to time. Even when there is retreat, something is opening—working to remove an obstacle that prevents the door from opening is helping it open. Periodically, the door opens wide with little effort, it seems.

I have not been able to figure out what it is that determines how I approach the door on any given day. Will I open it slowly today? Will it fling wide open with little effort? Will I get scared and run?

As I’ve mentioned many times, it’s all about the small drops or trickles. Every drop matters;”Slowly is Holy”, as Maha Avatar Babaji says. Each day, each effort is a small drop. On a daily basis it is difficult to see the cumulation of drops; when a bucket is filling by drops, it takes a long time and is almost imperceptible. The bucket is akin to my door opening and closing by differing increments… one day, there is an unexpected opening, recognition of the fulfillment of the effort, the door is flung open wide!

We freely release patterns, habits, and thoughts that inhibit our Freedom! We allow our thoughts and feelings to transform through remembrance of Freedom through Love. We were born with everything we need to be free in Love. We allow Love to lead us. We trust Love and surrender to its wisdom.

Sharing

Keep it moving. That is what came to me today when I was stuck on this Guiding Thought—literally, it came to me in an email. A friend of mine, who I’ve been working with on a project, said those exact words to me, “What’s important is to keep it moving.” Of course, he didn’t know he was talking to me about the Guiding Thought; the email was about a project we have been working on. But isn’t it interesting that I got exactly what I needed to hear in a totally different context? Thumbs up that I was able to recognize it!

Patterns, habits, and thoughts are ways that people get stuck. Getting stuck sucks! It does, I know. With a humorous irony I have not missed, I was stuck with the Guiding Thought about releasing patterns and habits, the epitome of “stuckness”.

Keep it moving…small steps…baby steps….just a little drop. Oh yes.

Sometimes I forget this; sometimes I forget that just moving forward matters, staying with it, keeping on. I want to be there now! I cut myself no slack if I don’t get it; I should get it. I should know more, be more, offer more, do more! What pressure I put on myself! All of that is just a pattern, just a mental habit of pushing myself, having an expectation; not seeing or listening to what is going on now, always thinking about the future, the striving, the work. Can you hear how exasperating that can be?

And you see…all of that pushing myself just keeps me spinning rather than keeping me moving forward. I think the pushing is supposed to help, but it’s exhausting, yet there I go. The pushing itself is a pattern!

Awareness of patterns gives some slack, some freedom, if you will. When I am aware of patterns, I can be spinning, spinning, spinning, and notice it. I may not know how to get out of it, but I can know that it’s ok to be there; humor helps. I can give myself permission to want to change it, which can help me to observe the pattern more closely, which changes my experience: as observer, I do not have to be completely involved in it; from the observer viewpoint, I can interact with it, rather than let it obsess or control me.

We went through round one of this Journey (days 1-10), focusing on ourselves as the experiencing subjects of the Journey. That only makes sense after all, I’m doing this Journey so that I can experience greater Freedom.

For the second round (days 11-20), the Guiding Thoughts were focused on a “you”, but the “you” was non-specific. You could have been directing the Guiding Thoughts to another person, or you could have imagined someone directing those words to you. Furthermore, the “you” could have been singular or plural, depending on your imagination.

Now we begin round three (days 21-30). This round intentionally joins us, with “we-our-us”. I am not just I; you are not just you. As we, any Freedom that is mine is also yours; I want freedom as much for you as for myself. We are in this together, and as we, we are equal. Let that which flows through us all unite us and lift us!

Copyright Tam Black 2015Designed for susanwithpearls.com

Guiding Thought

Love is our natural state; In Love we remember who we truly are; we remember our holiness, our innocence, and our infinity. Love enlightens our minds and lifts our hearts. We feel buoyant and expansive! We are now aware of our Self as Infinite Love, unbounded and free.

Sharing

Yesterday’s Guiding Thought and contemplation really shifted something in me. I know the words I used yesterday to describe what I was feeling got a bit confusing with all of those “beings.” Since I did the Journey yesterday, I have been remembering the feelings, the images I wrote about. Here are some other words to describe it…this is important, because yesterday’s Journey has influenced today’s.

Infinite Being, being you: Think of all that exists, all that has ever existed, and all that will ever exist. Think about all that energy, that creation, all that pure existence. All of that is accessible to you, because right at this moment it is expressing itself as you. You are expressing infinite being. You are not just part of it, you are it, and it is you. You are surrounded and filled with Infinite Being. There is no part of you that is apart from this reality. Your body moves with it, through it, as it. Everything you experience is Infinite Being. You are experiencing Infinite Being at the same time Infinite Being experiences through you.

Love is our natural state: The Source of All is Love. The source of existence is Love. Love can only create Love. Love has only ever created Love. Love is our natural state; Love is the Pure existence of Infinite Being. You are the pure existence of Love. When this becomes even a glimmer within consciousness, we begin to remember who we truly are.

This is important. I know, I know, the above words really don’t mean anything, if you don’t experience them. In fact, if I hadn’t had my glimpse yesterday (which lasted through the day, and into this morning), I am sure my skeptic would be coming out with, “WHAT? How!?” doubting and railing against all of it, but the experiencesilenced the skeptic.

The experience is what we are after; the words are a guide, a reminder, a prod; your heart-felt effort is the magnet. However you do it, whether it is through these Journeys with me, through your own prayers, yoga, dance, silence, or any of the many ways there are to open your consciousness to the infinite, to open to Love, do it. Open up your consciousness to allow a tiny glimpse of this infinite experience, and you will know how worth it it is.

If you don’t know it now, if you don’t feel it now… keep going. Even now, my glimpse has “worn off” so to speak, life activities happen, emotions happen, daily life barrages us with sensory input that gets in the way of keeping the mind focused on the Divine…I know. But that’s why I do this…I just keep reminding myself and reminding myself, and knowing there is something beyond what I think I know and I keep going…and every once in a while I get a glimpse like I did yesterday—a glimpse so real and clear the skeptic is silent, but more than that:

Today’s Guiding Thought was totally real.

The glimpse from yesterday, knowing myself as Infinite Being, knowing Infinite Being as me, was enough to further my experience and to also knowour holiness, our innocence, and our infinity. In that place of recognizing Oneness with Love, Oneness with All of Existence, there was complete sacredness and awe and appreciation. Everything was holy and innocent. There was great Joy and buoyancy. Everything was completely free in Love.

What is Freedom? This is as close as I’ve gotten. “We are now aware of our Self as Infinite Love, unbounded and free.”

Focus your mind and thoughts on your Inner Divine Self, your Self of Peace, your Self of Joy, Your Self of Infinite Being and Intelligence. When you are aware of your Inner Divine Self, you radiate these qualities, expressing the freedom of Being in Life!

Sharing

I really focused on this phrase today; it spoke to me: freedom of Being in Life.

I had two feelings/images in my head. First, I felt the essence of “Being”, as in the essence of All That IS, the Infinite energy of the Universe that is constantly interacting with itself in all its aspects. I felt this Being as Life itself, all-encompassing. I felt the Being of this Being; I felt its infinite, expansive energy.

This evoked one sense of Freedom, feeling that big, that all-encompassing, that involved with all aspects of every minutiae of Existence. I felt Life on the scale of the infinite and eternal. This is how Divine Being interacts with itself, like a person interacts with his or her body or thoughts, on a scale so enormous and incomprehensible to individual existence. That is Being’s experience, just like a morning routine, a dinner with friends, or sleeping is for people. Being is Life itself. Free.

Second, I felt the emphasis on” in Life”. This brought the feeling down to a personal level.

I could feel Oneness with Being, as myself. Being was rejoicing, joyfully playing in Life. It wasn’t focused on the grand scale; it was being itself (Being), in this moment right now, as me, but also being itself, connected to All.

How do I be my Divine Personality?

How do I exist as myself individually, but also as the Divine?

I don’t DO it. Being is always Being itself, infinite and eternal, here and now…as me. That is its existence, both simultaneously.

It gives new light to the phrase, “Just be.” This does not just mean do what feels right in the moment. It does not mean go into a meditative state and zone out. It does not mean simply do less (although, all of these can be part of it).

Just Be: Be the Being that is you. Allow Being to be you.

“Grounded in being, perform action.” The Bhagavad Gita

“The Kingdom of Heaven is you.” A Course in Miracles

“Search your heart and see. The way to do is Be.” -Lao Tzu

Do not just listen to the masters; do not merely know that this wisdom is “out there”. Seek it in you, as you. Seek it fervently. Know your Self. Seek the Truth of your being, All of Being, being you. This is Freedom that is Life.

Trusting life allows the flow of Divine energy to come in and through you to bless All. Step gracefully into expansive, unlimited, harmonious, Divine being. Praise and thank Life for supporting you, and relax in its process.

Sharing

What happens when you know something about yourself, and someone else who does not see it, or who has their own beliefs about you denies it in you, encourages you to be something else? I am thinking this applies a lot to children. Like a musical child born to tone-deaf parents? Or gentle children who are born to abusive parents? Or any free-spirited child who is born into a strict family? Or any child not allowed to play with a toy or allowed to wear clothes that may not be considered “socially appropriate”? What messages do people, both children and adults, receive from others about being “wrong”? What things do people feel guilty about because they were taught what they are doing or feeling is wrong, that they should feel or want something different? What effect do feelings of shame, embarrassment, guilt, have on self-perception?

The world teaches us, and it is a poor teacher. People internalize messages, both subtle and direct, which they get from parents, advertisements, siblings, teachers, clergy, bosses, etc. Then the internalization becomes part of what they believe about themselves. Often, they internalize it to the extent they become what they have internalized, self-fulfilling the denial of themselves. No wonder people are despondent and depressed. They have allowed others to convince them to deny their true selves.

There is a lot of healing going on in the world using the power of affirmations, self-esteem, positive thinking. People are beginning to recognize they do not have to accept others’ beliefs about them, they can choose for themselves an identity and direction that is true to who they are and how they think of themselves. They are undoing the conditioning they have learned. They are beginning to embrace their own sense of “right” and “wrong,” exercising their own inner compass about who they are, not being defined or constrained by what others think of them.

This is what today’s Guiding Thought reminded me: If this is how people learn about themselves, internalizing things that are not true, it is even more severe regarding what people learn about themselves as Divine Beings. The messages we receive about our Infinite Inner Love are even scarcer than those that encourage people to be themselves in the world. Our Divine Selves are shut down and denied before they even have a chance.

Thinking over the past few days of this Journey, namely days 16 and 17, I realize in my despondency, numbness, and spinning, I was accepting and allowing an idea that is not true to affect what I thought of myself. I was denying my Divine Self. I could not even begin to recognize the Truth of Who I am. I had to shut down. How insane is that?

I realized today that instead of denying my Self, I must deny the untruths about myself. Sadness? Uncertainty? Doubt? These are not who I Am. These do not reflect my union with God.

I Am an expansive, unlimited, harmonious, Divine being! By accepting this as the reality of who I am, as the foundation of my function and purpose in the world, I am sharing God’s thought of me. I am choosing God’s Will for myself.

Your connection with the Infinite Source of Love is and always has been enough. Love loves you always, everywhere. Assured in love, you are perfectly lovable and perfectly loving with all people in all situations.

Sharing

I have a friend who lives in Hawaii. He spends lots of quality time in the ocean. One day he said to me, “When you are in the water, you don’t realize the motion going on all around you. You are in it, a part of it, part of the movement itself. It can carry you away before you even realize it.”

Sometimes my mind or emotions fit this description of the ocean, the movement. I am always experiencing my mind and emotions, they are always with me, surrounding me—I am in them, they are in me; I can be carried away before I know it.

The activities of life in general can also be like this. Life is always happening; people don’t generally step out of the movement of life (and keep living, anyway).

Today as I read the Guiding Thought there was recognition of the movement that carried me away, in the form of, “Aaaahhhhhhhhhh…” a deep settling and relaxation. I stepped into a different stream of movement, and I felt a contrast with what I have been feeling. I felt my mind, my body, and my emotions release and I feel something different…Peace.

I realized the movement of Love can also be like the ocean; it can replace the movement of mind and emotions, and become One with the movement of life. I can be in Love, surrounded by Love, living in Love, just as I can live in my mind, emotions, or in the daily activities of life.

It was like I saw three different oceans: the ocean of my mind, the ocean of life, and the ocean of Love. I spend a lot of time in the first two, getting carried away. But the third one is there, and it engulfs the other two. I just have to realize it’s there.

Allow your physical body to experience itself fully as Light and Love. Your physical body embodies Light; you are an expanded body of Light and Sound. Move as Light, perceive as Light, behave as Light. You are everywhere—permeating, expanding, unifying, and healing. All things are possible.

Sharing

This is another one of those thoughts where I slip into, “Ok…but HOW?” I did not begin spinning today though, thank goodness. There are two reasons for not spinning today: 1) Resistance has reared its stubborn head (which meant a certain amount of apathy to figuring out how.) 2) I have an idea of how to do it (or at least how to visualize it).

1) The resistance: today it’s passive, in the form of nonchalance and intellectual lethargy. There’s no inner voice of skepticism, there’s no aggravated opposition, there’s no mind trying to figure it out (which is the only reason there is no spinning). Instead it’s more like I’m just blank, like curling up under the covers, not wanting to think about it, figure it out; like if I wait long enough it will just go away. It’s much more passive indifference/numbness/disconnected. I did not feel attuned at all to today’s Guiding Thought; there was no acceptance of even the potential of Oneness with the idea, no acceptance of the thought that I canexperience Light in the way that it describes.

The resistance lifted however with every reading of “All things are possible.” That raised my optimism momentarily, until I repeated the first sentence. It felt really good to think, “All things are possible.” I don’t know what “things” I want to be possible, but it felt as though if I did know, I’d be very optimistic about it!

2) Having an idea of how to do it: If I weren’t curled into a figurative ball under the covers, I would have been able to visualize today’s Guiding Thought. It is basically a guided visualization—very basically. But if I were to simply do what it says, to the best of my ability, bringing awareness to my body and bringing light into it, I wouldbe answering the question, “How do I do it?” You see?

I think what I am most disturbed by is that with all of my effort to feel over the past few days, to get it, I actually feel less than I have during the past few days. I mean: numb? There is not much more unfeeling than that. I did the exercise. I read the Guiding Thought. I am writing. But today it feels mechanical “totally in my head” as the saying goes. Normally, I at least have enough of a connection with my feeling-nature to feel silly, or confused, or annoyed…or creative, or receptive, or appreciative…or something. Today—blank. I feel so blank I don’t even care about feeling blank. I wonder if I’ve just overwhelmed myself?

There was one little bit of a bright ray within the practice this morning. I thought, “I’m learning.” It was that simple, I’m learning. And I knew and felt (felt!!) deeply that this was true. I don’t know what I am learning; I don’t know how I’m learning…but I am learning something, and it’s in there, working. Maybe this is the cooling off time. The preparation work is done; the ingredients have been put together; the baking is done; the pie is out of the oven, sitting on the rack. Waiting. There are good things to come when it’s cool enough to eat, but for now, it just sits, waiting.

Through your physical body, bring Divine Light and Love to the physical universe. Heal unresolved issues through loving thoughts, words, and emotions, and become lighter and brighter. Bring light to all you have denied and heal your past-present-future NOW. Every day you are lighter and lighter!

Sharing

My mind understands the truth of this Guiding Thought, but my emotions feel disconnected from it. I read the statements above and know I have been doing what they suggest. Throughout my day I do little meditations and take thought-focusing moments to bring Light and Love into my body, into the physical universe; I consciously use loving thoughts and words to be kind and loving; I delve into my past to find places that need healing; and my life continues to become lighter—I continue to become lighter. What’s more, I do what the Guiding Thought suggests while I am reading the statements, and if that were all I did, only bring Light and Love while I am reading the Guiding Thought…my heart, mind, and life would become lighter. This makes sense; intellectually, I get it.

Somehow, I know this Guiding Thought is true—and I am experiencing it. But I don’t feel it. What is it supposed to feel like? What does it feel like? It occurs to me that “no mind” is relevant here. Without mind trying to figure it out, maybe I would feel it.

Until I am of no mind, I am in search of a feeling. Or until I just stop looking, maybe? What is it I have said before, “You are searching for what you are searching with”?

It’s like I want clarity, an “AH-HA”, some definitive something that says, “THIS is IT!” I can feel the tension between my mind and “it”. I can feel how my mind is blocking, getting in my way.

Isn’t it funny that I can feel the blocking, but I can’t feel “it”? That’s one of the things about this that is so frustrating…I can be so aware of how I get in my own way, but I don’t know how to get out of the way.

So I keep spinning.

Copyright Susan Billmaier 2015Created for susanwithpearls.com

Several revolutions around the cycle and a part of me shouted, “JUST STOP.” Here is how that went:

Copyright Susan Billmaier 2015Created for susanwithpearls.com

You have to admit, this is totally hilarious isn’t it? “Spinning, spinning just keep spinning….” (To the tune of “Swimming, Swimming” from Finding Nemo. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hkn-LSh7es) You just gotta have a sense of humor about this stuff some times. As soon as I put the spinning in pictures, I laughed and laughed, and realized how absurd it is…something lifted. I still don’t feel it, but I do feel lighter…maybe that is feeling it? I also feel better about not feeling it, if in fact I don’t feel it. =)